The former top official however believes that telcos spectrum constraint claim could not be justified, and added that the quantum of radiowaves has been increased in subsequent auctions after February 2014.Muntazir Abbas | ETTelecom | Updated: February 03, 2016, 08:37 IST

NEW DELHI: Former telecom secretary MF Farooqui has backed the government’s view that telecom operators need to invest in infrastructure and that their focus just on data has hurt voice services, while cautioning that levying penalty on operators alone won’t resolve the problem of call drops.

“There should be a win-win situation for telecom operators and the government and there is a need to create a solution with calibration of actions as punitive measures alone won’t fix the call drops issue,” Farooqui, now chairman of the Broadband India Forum, told ET.

He said the operators’ claim of spectrum constraint is not justified given that the quantum of radio waves has gone up in auctions since February 2014.

“Telecom operators have to increase network investment and the lone focus on data-driven services is among the issues derailing telecom services quality today,” said Farooqui.

According to research firm Deloitte, 61% of mobile towers are set up in metros and category A circles while 39% cater to the rest of the country.

The industry has, however, blamed call drops on right-of-way in putting up telecom infrastructure and availability of less quantum of spectrum compared to that in other markets at a time when India’s subscriber base is growing rapidly.

Call drops have risen in the past one year, Farooqui said, citing contiguity of spectrum as one of the key reasons since the airwaves require harmonisation for seamless services.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in its October 16, 2015 notification mandated telecom operators to pay consumers Re 1 per call drop subject to a cap of Rs 3 in a day. The regulator had earlier termed call drops as a “pervasive problem” and termed it harassment of subscribers.

Industry lobbies such as the Cellular Operators Association of India and the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India have sought intervention of the Delhi High Court on the penalty levied by Trai.

Farooqui said the operators should undertake better capacity planning, as base transceiver stations are increasingly choking and new calls by subscribers are becoming unfeasible, in addition to aggressive tower expansion initiatives.

Several people ET spoke with about Ericsson’s India operations, including its current and former employees, said the Stockholm-based firm has reduced headcount in the last one year or so across functions, in line with its global restructuring.